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In a conversation with a lawyer a few months ago, the comment was made that the US has already implemented GDPR, they have just done small bits of it in each state; collectively similar to GDPR, but no one jurisdiction is anything like GDPR. Except now we have California implementing the California Consumer Privacy Act that will go into effect January of 2020. This regulation is similar in spirit and many details to GDPR. What is fascinating is how the bill was enacted. This article explains how California politics works, and points out that the rapid adoption of the legislation is actually an attempt to create a more flexible environment for companies to negotiate the various compromises that I am sure will come. It is also worth noting that for those companies that are well on the way towards GDPR compliance, they will essentially already be compliant with the California law. I do not see this being the last state to create or update their privacy laws. This was a trend that was already underway. However, California is a big state, and the home of many tech companies, and the State’s new law will surely have an influence on how other States address the privacy issue.